By Marc Stengel

Among the more memorable advertising slogans of the ’60s and ’70s was “wide track...from Pontiac.” The specified connotation was unmistakable: In the pre-OPEC heyday of 29-cent go-juice, what you could, what you should expect from General Motors’ high-performance division was a broad application of power from big-bodied cars wearing monikers like GTO, Bonneville, and, of course, Grand Prix. Never mind that these nimble-sounding name tags seemed vaguely misapplied to Pontiac’s icons of all-American heavy metal. What was important was that their muscular motors and ironclad construction were meant to cut a broad, clear swath through the competition. Those were the ’60s, and these were the wide-track Pontiacs.

In the intervening years since then, Pontiac—indeed America’s entire auto industry—has had to narrow its focus somewhat. In the case of Pontiac’s once muscular Grand Prix, that meant bailing out of rear-wheel drive and monster V8 power in favor of fuel-efficient V6s and cost-effective front-wheel drive. Gone, too, was the Grand Prix’s distinctive expanse of sheet metal, measured presumably in acres, that served as the original car’s aircraft landing strip of a hood. The car’s overall styling motif morphed flagrantly into the shape of a jelly bean, rendering this grand ol’ nameplate a toy-like shadow of its former self.

Then, suddenly, 1997 dawned and—check it out—the wide track is back! Not content with designating the special-purpose Firebird as its sole high-performance standard bearer, Pontiac reinvigorated its Grand Prix design team, and it has come up with a winner. In fact, the automaker deserves the grand prize for dusting off the Grand Prix’s venerated performance image and bringing it strategically up-to-date.

First, the exterior: It’s low, wide, and aggressive. Standard-equipment fog lamps, integrated deftly into the front fascia, look like the flared nostrils of a leering demon skimming the surface of the road. The fenders swell in taut bulges around wide, low-profile tires mounted on optional polished-aluminum wheels. The roofline describes a broad, low arc from front to rear, as if sculpted by the wind.

The performance of GM’s new workhorse powerplant, the normally aspirated 3800 Series II V6, complements Grand Prix’s overt fashion statement. Although a supercharged 240-horsepower version is available in a special GTP designation, the Grand Prix GT spools out plenty of pep for its 3400-lb. curb weight. Standard traction control is especially welcome in this front-driver, which is prone to “light ’em up” from a standing start at the least provocation. Independent suspension and anti-lock disk brakes at all four corners round out the performance architecture of Grand Prix’s refurbished package.

It would be misleading to describe the interior of the ’97 Grand Prix as a bold departure from its past. The trademark chunky knobs and bulbs that serve as switches and controls for the entire Pontiac lineup are still in use, pleasing fans while continuing to annoy critics—like me. It’s a case of sheer aesthetics and personal taste, of course; but I find the swollen touch pads and organic dial shapes a stark and unnecessary contrast to the svelte athleticism of the car’s exterior.

Nevertheless, there are flashes of brilliance in the Grand Prix’s interior layout—literally, in the case of its optional “EyeCue” heads-up display. This is a transparent, reflective speedometer readout in the windshield, in front of the driver’s line-of-sight, that can be aimed and dimmed for legibility. A typical first reaction is to switch it off, but if you force yourself to live with it a while, you’ll soon relegate its digital readout to your subconscious. In the end, you may discover that you’re somehow more conscious of speed limits and your relationship to them. Now explain that one, will ya?

Banishing cruise control to the turn-signal stalk where it belongs leaves room on the steering wheel for radio controls. (When you change volume or frequencies, the station readout appears on the heads-up display.) I appreciated the optional tip-up sunroof, with its auto-retract feature, although the nacelle that houses the push-button looks and feels as it were pasted on as an afterthought.

Another minor gripe is the fact that the front seat-belt anchors don’t swivel out of the way of passengers climbing into the backseat. More than once, my children looked like porpoises trapped in a tuna net when they tried to enter or exit the car. On the other hand, I do appreciate the cantilevered front cupholder, which hides discreetly in the center console without consuming valuable cubby space or requiring Rubik’s-cube savvy to fold out of the way.

It’s no secret by now that the new Grand Prix shares its basic platform with both the Buick Regal and the soon-to-debut Intrigue from Oldsmobile. It’s only appropriate, however, that the only two-door coupe of the bunch is the Grand Prix (although a four-door Grand Prix also sits in Pontiac’s lineup). Coupes, of course, aren’t for everybody; but they typically appeal to the sportier-minded driver who has need only occasionally for rear seating.

At just under $23,000 for the well-equipped model tested here, the new performance-oriented Grand Prix represents a shot across the bow of Ford’s rear-drive Mustang. Its aggressive styling, moreover, relegates the Chevy Monte Carlo and Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Avenger to another, more humdrum category entirely. With its new interpretation of a hallowed Pontiac theme, the ’97 Grand Prix has successfully brought the wide track back—and made it look easy.

Off the floor

Not just a side issue

Nashville auto enthusiasts will recognize Frank Aukofer’s byline from his syndicated automotive column, which appears Mondays in The Tennessean. Last week, the Automotive Occupant Restraints Council [AORC] recognized Aukofer’s wife as the “the first person in America to be saved by a side-impact airbag.” Sharlene Aukofer was riding with her husband last year while he was evaluating a Mercedes E420 luxury sedan in North Carolina. The vehicle was struck squarely in the side by an Isuzu Trooper, but despite suffering compound fractures of the arm and hand, Sharlene was spared life-threatening head injury by deployment of the side-impact airbag.

Aukofer, who lived in Nashville during the ’94-’95 academic year while her husband served as a scholar-in-residence at Vanderbilt University’s Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, credits the side airbag with saving her life. “The impact caused a 12-inch intrusion into our car’s passenger compartment,” she is quoted as saying in last week’s AORC report. “Without the bag, my head would have gone through the side window into the Isuzu’s hood. The paramedics used the jaws of life to cut me from the car. They said that in crashes this severe, they expect to find a fatality.”

In a separate conversation with the Nashville Scene, the couple’s son, Joe Aukofer, pointed out that the side window of the car remained intact after the accident—vivid evidence of the airbag’s role in diverting Sharlene’s head and upper body away from the impact zone. Door-mounted side-impact airbags for the driver and front passenger were introduced as standard equipment for all Mercedes E-Class sedans beginning with the 1996 model year; they’re also featured in many other upscale—and chiefly European—models.

Any way you slice it

The Oldsmobile Cutlass, once the best-selling nameplate in America, has been poised for a major comeback this spring. Reinvigorated with an all-new design (which it shares with the new Chevrolet Malibu), Oldsmobile blitzed the media with a marketing launch timed precisely for basketball’s Big Four playoffs—and, as it turned out, the seven-week strike at the Oklahoma manufacturing facility that builds the Cutlass. Well, the strike’s over, and new Cutlasses started rolling out of the GM facility on May 26 to arrive at Olds showrooms like Trickett and Hippodrome by the start of June. As for the marketing launch? Said one Oldsmobile spokesman at a press briefing last week, “I wouldn’t say we’re starting over; we’re just going to try again.”

Dealer news and other views are invited by fax at 615.385-2930 or via e-mail to Autosuggestive@compuserve.com.

Dealer news and other views are invited by fax at 615.385-2930 or via e-mail to Autosuggestive@compuserve.com.